[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]
“The need for open standards and open protocols was never
greater than it is today. This is because the speed and the
coverage area of standards of communication are approaching a
single, global domain.“
“Hundreds of years ago, travel and communication were bound by
limits of geography, cost, and time. This meant that a single
manipulative enterprise could not dominate over all the people all
the time. Governments were limited in their ability to enforce law
at the level of the individual household, and over a restricted
geographical area. Pilgrims and entrepreneurs alike could escape
the hostile force of ruling authorities by venturing across the
ocean to new lands. Companies were limited in the scope of their
power, and refugees from oppressive monopolies and “company towns”
could escape to different geographical locations or different
career paths. The ratio of group power to individual freedom was
relatively small.”
“However, the new millennium brings with it a single, globally
interconnected network, which quickly propagates both ideas, and
the protocols needed to communicate those ideas. Information is
both content and carrier (in the form of software). The same medium
that can provide enlightenment can also spread darkness and
confusion, deception and slander. When it comes to the protocols
themselves, the same medium that offers the hope of freedom and
mutual compatibility can also quickly spread chaos and corruption,
mismatches and frustrations.”